Persona 5: Shiho's Awakening
by MaximusTheMad
Summary: To say things were bad for Shiho Suzui would be the understatement of the century. Everything in her life seemed to have come crashing down after she had been forced to watch her best friend Ann attempt suicide by jumping off the school roof. Now she has to find out the reason why, and what it has to do with the new transfer student. One-shot based on an aborted idea (M for LSV)


Persona 5: Shiho's Awakening

 **IF ANYONE IS CONFUSED AS TO WHY MY STORY JUST GOT SENT UP DESPITE NOT BEING UPDATED, I POSTED AN EXTRA CHAPTER BECAUSE MY STORY GOT RANDOMLY DELISTED AND I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIX IT**

 **I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY CONFUSION**

Cover art by anele on Zerochan

 _Hi everybody that was interested enough to read this dumb one-shot!_

 _This is my first try at writing a Persona fanfic, and it's been about 3 years since I've written anything fanfiction-wise so I apologize if the quality isn't really up to snuff. I have plenty of ideas that I wanted to try out, including my own version of Persona 6 which I'm still working hard on._

 _This one-shot is born of the idea I had for a "dark timeline" version of Persona 5 where Akira is sent back in time to repeat the events of the game, with some significant changes (I had some ideas for Persona 4, but the idea has already been done and better than I ever could). Here is arguably one of the best scenes I had in mind when I came up with the concept. Honestly I think I'm going devote myself to finishing my first chapter of Persona 6: The Digital Age, but if someone likes my idea enough to turn it into a full story that would be pretty cool I guess if I don't get around._

 _Also it's been a while since I played Persona 5, so I might get some of the story details wrong_

 **I'm forgetting something here….oh right**

 **I DO NOT OWN THE SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI FRANCHISE, OR THE PERSONA SERIES. I AM JUST A POOR COLLEGE STUDENT UP TO HIS EYEBALLS IN STUDENT LOAN DEBT, PLEASE DON'T SUE ME ATLUS**

* * *

To say things were bad for Shiho Suzui would be the understatement of the century. Everything in her life had come crashing down in the past couple days after she had been forced to watch as her best friend Ann attempted suicide by jumping off the school roof. Deep down in her heart she had an idea of why her friend had done so, but she had refused to acknowledge it. She began to hear rumors about it, as well as the rumor that the new kid, Sakamoto, and Yuuki were under threat of expulsion for assaulting Coach Kamoshida. Shiho hadn't been there at the time, having stayed at Ann's side hoping she would wake up, but it had filled her heart further with dread. According to the doctor's, Ann had survived the fall, but was currently in a coma. It was the second piece of news delivered to her that made her almost puke, but we'll get to that later.

The next few days had been quiet, too quiet for her. She would frequently try to start up a conversation with Yuuki about what had happened but he had refused to tell her what was going on. She had noticed he looked a lot more nervous, but didn't bring anything up further. The new kid, or Akira Kurusu as he had introduced himself to her when they first met, had been equally as quiet on what was happening, frequently saying that everything would be taken care of followed by saying he was sorry about Ann and hoped that she would turn out okay. Shiho had been touched by the concern, even if she did find it a bit odd since he had only been there for about a week. She was irked at being kept in the dark though, but the only difference was that while Yuuki had been nervous, Kurusu had looked furious. Not like Sakamoto's style of fury, which made him look like he could spit fire at anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with the blonde, but a colder and easily more terrifying style of fury. An almost…murderous look of fury, and it was directed at only one person, which luckily wasn't her. Still it was scary enough that Shiho had decided not to press further. The reaction was shocking to her, since up to this point, given the conversations they'd had, he had seemed like a rather kind and gentle person if a bit on the sad side. He was completely unlike her expectations after rumors flew about he had been kicked out of his previous school for an unspecified crime, but now she wasn't so sure.

* * *

She had begun following him, trying to figure out what he and Sakamoto had been up to. What had happened next had blown Shiho's mind out of the water. The school had been transformed into some dark and foreboding castle, and Kurusu, Sakamoto, and the weird cat that had been followed them around had changed as well. The weird cat had explained that she had been pulled in as well due to her proximity to them. Despite her insistence that she come along, due to her suspicions that whatever this was it was related to what happened to Ann, Kurusu and Sakamoto had escorted her out of the area. Akira had apologized, insisting that she go back and stay safe, but she refused to give up and found herself back where she came in when they left.

Searching for a place get inside and find out what was going on, on sheer happenstance a guard patrol had come by and captured her. She had been dragged into some kind of apparent dungeon and tied to what looked like a BDSM restraint. It didn't help matters that the room was filled with pink-skinned topless girls in what looked like P.E. uniform pants. Shiho shivered, feeling a deep sense of fear in her stomach. Maybe this was some kind of prank, or maybe she was having some sort of hallucination.

"L-Let me go," she screamed, as she pulled against her restraints, "T-the joke's over, this isn't funny! When I get out of this, you're all going to regret it. I-if you do anything to me, I'll never forgive you!"

"So this is the intruder," she heard a weird distorted voice say.

Shiho turned in the direction of the door and saw Kamoshida in what looked like a king's robe, a pink speedo, and a golden crown.

"Kamoshida," said Shiho, eyes widening, "W-why are you doing this? What the hell are you wearing?! Where is this place?! Why is the school like this?!"

"Hmm…Shiho Suzui, not much of a prize but I'll take it," said Kamoshida, walking up and stroking her cheek. Shiho felt a shiver of disgust at his touch, and thrashed her head which caused him to recoil his hand.

"K-keep your hands off me and let me out of this," Shiho shakily said, "When I tell the principal about this.."

"That fool won't do anything as long as I keep his precious volleyball team at a high standard" Kamoshida replied with a grin, "Are you afraid? I like your feistiness. I'm going to enjoy turning you into a playmate for my toy."

Before Shiho could even spit out a retort, she saw a woman walking up to him.

"A-ann," Shiho said, eyes widening at the sight.

What shocked her was what her friend was wearing, or lack thereof. Her friend was wearing a tiny and pink leopard-print bikini, high heals, and cat ears.

 _That can't be Ann_ , Shiho thought, _Ann's in a coma at the hospital, there's no way she could be here_

"W-what is this, what have you done to her," Shiho shouted.

"Heh, nothing she didn't want me to. I do as I please here. After all, this is my castle…the world of my desires," Kamoshida replied.

"W-world of your…w-what the hell are you talking about?! Ann, whatever he's doing to you, you have to fight it. It's me Shiho, you have to help me," Shiho pleaded.

"Like oh my god, you're being so totally bossy," Ann replied, with a weird smile, "Like, don't worry Shiho, you'll totally enjoy being with Master. It like, only hurts a little the first time but you'll totally have fun after the first few times."

"A-ann, what are you talking about," Shiho said, not liking where the conversation was heading.

"Oh you didn't know hmm," said Kamoshida, giving a perverted smile, "I've wanted Takamaki for so long but she always rejected to me, but once I threatened to do to you what I wanted to do to her she fell right into my arms."

Shiho felt her heart drop right into her stomach, "Y-you w-what?"

"You didn't honestly think you stayed on my team due to your skills did you? The only reason why you're still on is because Ann here was giving me a reason to keep you. And I enjoyed every second of taking her for a ride," bragged Kamoshida, "Whenever I needed to blow off some steam dealing with you idiots, I called her to my chambers for some fun."

"T-that can't be," said Shiho replied, "She would've told me…she would have…"

Shiho didn't finish her sentence, because as she stood there tied up a rush of memories came back into her head.

The way her friend had looked tired the past few weeks, the frequent cancelling of plans, how whenever she smiled it was completely hollow. Looking back it seemed so obvious that something was up, but she had been too focused on staying on the squad and dealing with Kamoshida's "volleyball training" to notice. To think the entire time…Shiho didn't even want to finish that thought. She couldn't stomach it, the idea that Ann would do those things for her.

"It's too bad the real one tried to kill herself. She would've been an amazing mother to my progeny, but I'll settle for getting a new pet," said Kamoshida.

Shiho by this point wasn't listening, instead standing there with tears streaming down her face.

"Like, don't worry Shiho, you totally helped me awaken to who I am and how bad I can be. And you can join me to make up for it, everyone wins," the Ann duplicate said, giving the crying girl a hug, which only served to provoke more tears from Shiho.

"SUZUI," Shiho heard someone yell. She looked up and saw Sakamoto, Akira and the monster cat run into the room.

"And just when I was starting to have fun," said Kamoshida with a scowl.

"You little…," Sakamoto started to say.

"How many times are you gonna come back," said Kamoshida, "You're just like those thieves aren't you, came because you're pissed at me."

"You're dead you bastard," Ryuji shouted, before he saw the two guards raise their swords to Shiho's throat.

"Take one more step and I slice her throat," threatened Kamoshida.

"You harm one hair on her head and I'll kill you myself," said Akira, with an icy fury that surprised all in the room.

"You're bluffing," said Kamoshida with a laugh, "You don't know what'll happen if you do that, and you're too much of a goody two-shoes to allow it."

"Actually I do know," said Akira with a hollow and scary grin on his face, "And that's why I'll enjoy every second of it when it happens."

"Are you willing to risk her life on it," Kamoshida replied, eying the boy.

Akira was about to retort before he heard Shiho say softly, "Don't bother Kurusu."

Akira looked at surprise at Shiho, before she continued through her tears, "I deserve this, i-it's all my fault. A-ann forced herself to do all sorts of h-horrible things because I didn't just quit the volleyball team. I'm a t-terrible person, and a t-terrible friend for letting this happen to her. P-please all of you j-just leave."

"Now, that's more like it. Let's get the show on the way, starting with that uniform of hers," said Kamoshida with a grin.

"*giggle* You're such a perv," Ann said in a sultry tone, "And I love it."

"Suzui…you can't be serious," said Ryuji, before turning to Akira, "We can't let this happen! We have to do something! SUZUI!"

"J-just make it quick," Shiho said quietly.

"That's more like it. You should've looked like this from the start," Kamoshida said.

"I'm sorry Ann, I'm so sorry," Shiho said, a fresh load of tears draining from her eyes.

"SHIHO," Akira yelled, "What happened to Ann wasn't your fault, it was his! Don't let him get to you!"

"B-but," Shiho tried to say.

"You've…Ann told me about how you've always been by her side even in the worst of times. About how you became friends with her when no one else wanted to. She didn't regret what she did with Kamoshida…because she knew she was doing it to protect you. Deep down she knew how much you wanted to follow your dream, so she did everything she could to make it happen because she cared about you. The only reason why she jumped off the roof was because Kamoshida used you to back her into a corner," Akira yelled, "If you give up and just let him have his way, then everything she did will have been for nothing. Is that what you want? Is it?!"

"I-I," Shiho struggled to say, as she remembered the last conversation she had had with her best friend before her suicide attempt.

* * *

" _I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise," Ann had said at school after breaking her plans with her the previous day, "Something came up at the studio."_

" _It's okay Ann, I understand," Shiho had replied, "The movie wasn't even that good anyway, and I got something while at Shinjuku."_

 _Shiho pulled a tasty sweet from her backpack which instantly made her friends eyes light up._

" _Is that a slice of triple berry cream cake," Ann asked with mouthwatering anticipation._

" _I'll only forgive you if you eat it with me," Shiho said, pulling out two forks. The two had then scarfed down the cake in record time and now sat next to each other laughing._

" _Shiho…we're best friends right," Ann said._

" _Of course," Shiho had replied._

" _And best friends can tell each other anything right," Ann said._

" _I thought that was obvious given how we met," Shiho joked, earning her a punch in the arm and a laugh from Ann, "Is it about what happened yesterday?"_

" _There's something I can't tell you right now," Ann said with a rather serious look on her face._

" _Ann, you're scaring me. You can tell me anything, I won't get mad I promise," said Shiho with a worried look on hers._

" _I know Shiho, and I want to thank you for always staying with me even when the other kids teased me," said Ann, "But I want you to promise something, promise me you'll always go after your dreams no matter what."_

" _Ann, I," Shiho started to say before noticing the sad look on Ann's face, "I promise."_

" _Thank you Shiho, thank you so much," Ann said, before hugging her._

" _Ann, are you moving away," Shiho said, scared that she was going to lose her friend._

" _No, silly" Ann had replied with a laugh before frowning again, "I just have a lot on my mind and I want to make sure you're okay. No matter what happens, just know I'll be by your side cheering you on."_

* * *

"No…Ann wouldn't want this, and I don't either," Shiho said, with a new found look of determination, "She gave everything to protect me, and I won't let this bastard toy with me or anyone else ever again."

"It's like I always say, slaves should just obey and…," Kamoshida tried to say.

"SHUT UP!" Shiho yelled, "You hurt me, you've bullied the volleyball team into fearing your abuse, and worst of all you forced yourself on my best friend and hurt her in a way that can never be fixed. I will make you suffer! I! WILL! MAKE! YOU! PAY!"

 _ **It's about time you finally fought back**_

Shiho felt a slight pain in her head, causing her to gasp

 _ **This man has made you and others suffer for far too long**_

Shiho began struggling against her bonds, writhing in apparent agony

 _ **It's time we forge a contract to avenge your comrades in arms**_

 _ **I Am Thou**_

 _ **Thou Art I**_

 _ **Be free from your cage**_

 _ **Spread your wings**_

 _ **AND RAIN DOWN HELLFIRE FROM THE SKIES ABOVE**_

Shiho stopped struggling as a brown hawk-like mask with glowing yellow eyes appeared on her face. Drawing power she never knew she had, Shiho broke free from her bonds and dropped shakily to the ground. She reached up to the mask, and ripped it off her face, causing blood to run down her face.

When she stopped screaming, she looked at Kamoshida with pure distain and hatred.

"Come forth, FILIBUS!" Shiho screamed, causing a pillar of blue light to surround her.

The light then cleared to reveal a giant light-skinned woman in a red dress and white robe and a dark black masquerade mask, riding what appeared to be a rather large ballooned airship spewing steam from the many pipes that covered it. Shiho herself was wearing what appeared to be a dark red pilot's jacket covered in dark black buttons with a black corset underneath, a pair of jet-black leggings, a dark grey scarf, and her mask. Strapped to her sides was a chain-like whip and what looked like a tommy gun.

Not even giving the guards a second to react, she rushed forth to the nearest guard and knocked the sword from his hand with a swing her whip. Grabbing it, she moved to slash Kamoshida, only for him to use Ann as a human shield which caused her to disappear while screaming.

The guards rushed in front of him, moving to protect him from any assault.

"We are not your pawns anymore you piece of garbage," Shiho said.

"Bitch," Kamoshida spat out in reply.

"You abused people, you broke our spirits, now it's your turn to be broken. I won't stop until I take everything you have and leave you a broken and bleeding shell!"

" **How dare you! Enough of your insolence** ," the guard captain said before fusing with the other guards to form a giant monster.

"You better get out of my way if you know what's good for you," Shiho replied with a sneer, "LET'S GO FILIBUS!"

* * *

 _* Cue Battle *_

" **How dare you deny King Kamoshida's love, you selfish lass!? Pay for your crimes with your life** ," the monster said.

"Love!? Who would love disgusting cockroach of a person like him when all he does is use us as punching bags and sex toys? I bet his mother can't even stand him," retorted Shiho.

"Time to let loose Filibus!" Shiho said, causing the airship to blast the enemy with an Agi powered blast of steam, knocking it down and leaving it wide open.

"Ok guys! Let's do it," exclaimed Morgana, and the team unleashed an all-out assault which greatly damaged the monster.

" **INSOLENT WENCH** ," yelled the monster, unleashing a massive Garu which knocked Ryuji on his butt. This allowed the monster a chance to heal itself with Dia.

"Jack-O-Lantern," Akira cried, switching his persona and unleashing another powerful Agi spell, giving him an opportunity to cast Dekunda and lower the monster's defenses.

Morgana used his turn to cast Dia on Ryuji to bring him to full health, and Ryuji used his to hit the monster with his club. While the monster was resistant to melee attacks, Ryuji managed to hit it in a weak spot and knock it down which left it open for another all-out attack.

" **GRRR** ," the monster growled before attacking Shiho, which left her severely injured.

"I-I won't lose," Shiho forced through her grit teeth before touching her mask and yelling, "PERSONA"

With a final Agi, followed by one last all-out attack, the monster evaporated right before their eyes.

* * *

Immediately Kamoshida began sweating before exclaiming, "Oh Shit!" and running away.

"Wait I'm not…done….with," Shiho tried to say before collapsing to the ground, breathing heavily.

"Why are you even here man!? More importantly, how did you get here," grilled Ryuji.

"Hey! Is that how you speak to a woman," said Morgana with a glare, before turning to Shiho and saying, "Are you alright Lady Shiho?"

Unbeknownst to the others, Akira took in a sharp intake of breath.

"L-Lady Shiho? Wait, what are you supposed to be," Shiho questioned, "What the hell is this place?! And…"

Shiho stopped after noticing her attire, "W-Where did these clothes come from?"

After noticing that the corset was rather form-fitting and dipped a fair ways down, she instantly blushed, quickly buttoned up her jacket and tried to use her scarf to try to hide said blush.

"We'll explain later, right now I have a feeling Kamoshida's going to send more guards after us. You're in no condition to fight after that last battle, so we'd better get out of here," said Akira, helping the girl to her feet and after turning his head towards Ryuji, "Take the other side, we need to get out as fast as possible."

Ryuji nodded, and draped the girl's other arm over his shoulder. With Morgana as their navigator, they quickly made their way to the exit

* * *

 _Back at the train station_

Ryuji ran up to Akira and Shiho who were sitting on a nearby bench conversing, with a couple of sodas in his hands.

He turned to Shiho and asked, "Which one do you want?"

Shiho looked up and replied, "Um..the lemon-lime I guess. Thanks."

Ryuji smiled and gave the soda to her. He held the other out for Akira, but he shook his head and said, "I'm fine."

"Suit yourself," Ryuji replied, shrugging and drinking the soda himself.

"What about me," Morgana asked from Akira's school bag.

"Huh? But you're a cat," Ryuji replied, as if stating the obvious was reason enough.

Shiho lightly chuckled, and said, "I'm having a conversation with a cat, as if this day wasn't weird enough."

"I'm not…I mean have you calmed down Lady Shiho," asked Morgana.

"Sorry, er Morgana right? And yes I've calmed down a little, I'm still pretty angry though," said Shiho with a scowl.

"That's to be expected given everything that's happened," said Akira, nodding empathetically.

"Everything you've told me, if I hadn't just seen what I saw I'd call you three crazy," said Shiho, "But after seeing all that, and experiencing this power, I don't know what to believe anymore."

"It's the will of your rebellion Lady Shiho. With it you can fight in the other world," said Morgana.

"So is what you said about the change of heart true? Can we really make him confess everything he's done," said Shiho with a serious look on her face.

"We're not sure, but it's better than any other plan we've got right now considering the volleyball team's keepin' quiet about the abuse. If guys like us try to complain, they'd just shoot us down," said Ryuji, "Unless…maybe we could go to the authorities now, with you and Mishima backing up your story they'd have to believe us now right?"

"As much as I'd like to think so, there's a chance Kamoshida will just try to slither out of it like always," said Akira, "He could just claim they were spreading lies about him because he cut them from the team."

"So I guess goin' all in on this plan is the only thing we have," Ryuji replied with sigh.

"I want to go too," Shiho said with a look of determination, "I have to do this for Yuuki and my friends on the team, but most of all for Ann. After what he did to her, and the way he just acts like nothing happened. Refusing to take responsibility!"

"What do you mean responsibility," Akira asked with genuine curiosity and dread.

Shiho avoided their gazes at first, before gathering up the courage to reply.

"When Ann was taken to the hospital…the doctor that was overseeing her asked me if I knew who she was sexually active since there was evidence of recent sexual activity. At first I was confused, thinking maybe Ann had actually gotten a boyfriend that she wasn't telling me about. It would've explained why she had broken off our plans after all. But when I asked why…," Shiho tried to say before hiccupping another line of tears, "He said that whoever her partner was…gave her chlamydia. The doctor said it was lucky it was caught so early, if he hadn't Ann could have been rendered…infertile. The damn bastard knew he had it, and he still forced her to do all those things."

There was a shocked silence between the other 3 members of the group, before Ryuji piped up, "No way, I knew he was evil but that…"

"How could anyone do that to a woman," said Morgana said, "The thought that…"

Any further comments to be made, as well as Shiho's crying, were instantly stopped when Akira got up and started punching a nearby wall, with one hand and holding his head with the other. After noticing that his knuckles were beginning to bleed, Ryuji pulled him back from the wall.

"What the hell man, I know it's fucked up but you're taking this rather personal," exclaimed Ryuji, trying to keep their leader from harming himself further.

"THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS PERSONAL! WHEN I FIND HIM, I'LL, I'LL," Akira yelled, trying to escape Ryuji's grasp before collapsing into tears, "God dammit, why?"

Shiho was curious about Akira's reaction, since as far as she knew he barely knew Ann.

"Kurusu? Akira…are you alright," Shiho said with concern.

Akira looked up, ready to verbally tear her a new one before remembering one crucial fact. That Shiho was suffering as well, just like Ann…had. He remembered how upset Ann had been when Shiho had been the one on the receiving end of the abuse, hiding it behind a mask of enthusiasm. He remembered how when they were alone, she had collapsed in his arms in tears and exclaimed that Shiho hadn't deserved to suffer what she did and wished that she could've taken her place. But now that she had…it didn't make it easier to bear for him. The thought of someone who had become one of his closest friends had suffered what she had, the thought was almost enough to make him vomit. But looking at Shiho now, it was exactly the same only she didn't have a mask. The pain was fully evident in her eyes and body language, and odds were she'd never fully forgive herself for what happened. But Akira could, as it wasn't her fault, and he needed to make sure she knew that

"I-I'm fine," Akira said shakily, wiping the tears from his eyes with his non-bloodied hand, "It's just…a harsh reminder of something that happened in my past."

It wasn't the whole truth, but it was enough to satisfy the others. None of them knew much of Akira's past, so they accepted the explanation without question.

"Hey man, it's alright. We'll definitely nail the bastard," said Ryuji, being uncharacteristically comforting.

"Yeah. Kamoshida will pay for what he did," said Akira with a smile, before turning to Shiho and saying, "And you'll have a front row seat along with us."

The others looked shocked at him and Ryuji looked like he was about to protest, before Akira turned to them and said, "We need all the help we can get, and she's shown she can handle herself in a fight. Not to mention if we don't take her with us there's a good possibility she'll try to go it alone, which is even more dangerous."

The two nodded at that, and Akira turned to Shiho and said, "I won't lie to you. What we're going to do is dangerous, with a constant threat of death at every corner. If you feel like you can handle it, then welcome aboard our motley crew of misfits," finishing with a half-smile.

Shiho chuckled and nodded, before giving Akira a hug which the young man wasn't expecting.

"Thanks Akira, and I promise I won't let you or anyone else down," said Shiho, "We'll make Kamoshida pay for what he's done, for Ann's sake and everyone else he's ever hurt. I won't let him hurt anyone else ever again."

"Just let me know when we're heading back. Wait, we should probably exchange contact info first. Silly me," Shiho said, lightly smacking her head before they all pulled out their phones and exchanged their information.

"Alright, I'm counting on you Akira," Shiho said with a smile, "Same for you Ryuji, and you too Morgana."

"The pleasure's all mine Lady Shiho," said Morgana.

Shiho turned around and left, while Akira heard a familiar woman's voice in his head.

 _I am_ _ **thou**_ _, thou art I…_

 _Thou hast acquired a_ _ **new**_ _vow,_

 _It shall_ _ **become**_ _the wings of rebellion_

 _that_ _ **breaketh**_ _thy chains of captivity_

 _With the birth of the Aeon Persona,_

 _I have obtained the winds of_ _ **blessing**_ _that_

 _shall lead to freedom and_ _ **new**_ _power_

Akira found himself surprised at the thought. He didn't remember Aeon in his original repertoire, and was curious as to what sort of powers it would bring. He had been scared at first that Shiho would hold the Lover's link, and felt relieved that she didn't.

" _Maybe there's still a chance I can be Ann's friend again_ ," Akira thought, which filled him with a fair amount of joy.

"What a kind girl, such consideration for others. And the innocence to cast herself into the jaws of death to achieve her goal and save her friends. And she's really cute to top it all off. What a girl, she's stolen my heart…," Morgana said.

"Yeah yeah, get the tongue off the floor Catanova," said Ryuji, rolling his eyes, earning a snicker from Akira and a harrumph from Morgana.

"You know, it'd be better if this group could get together quick from now on," said Ryuji.

"True. Our best option would be to make a secret hideout where we could discuss these things," said Morgana.

As much as Akira wanted to suggest they all just meet at Café Leblanc, the timeline had already been changed in some way once and he didn't want to tempt fate.

"A secret hideout, ay? I like the sound of that," Ryuji said, getting excited.

"How about the school roof, nobody goes up there so it'd be perfect," Akira suggested.

"Excellent idea Akira, I've taught you well," Morgana said, "I can't contact you from inside a palace so I'll have to stay in your world for the time being. That being said I'll need someone to take care of me. And I personally nominate you Akira, you should feel honored."

"This's all you. There's no way I can at my place," said Ryuji, "Well we now have our hideout, so let's meet there tomorrow!"

Ryuji left as well, leaving Akira and Morgana alone.

"OK! Let's go look at my new residence in this world," said Morgana.

"Alright, but I'm going to lay down one rule if you're going to be staying with me," said Akira, "I get to choose when I go to bed, not you. Understood?"

"Ok…weird request but sure," said Morgana.

"Glad we understand each other," replied Akira and he walked towards the train terminal to get back to Yongen-Jaya.

* * *

Along the way however, his thoughts were plagued with worries. What happened to Ann was not supposed to happen, neither was Shiho getting a persona in her place. What other potential unforeseen problems could arise due to changes in the timeline? What would happen to his friends? What would happen to Yusuke, or Makoto, or Haru or…

" _Futaba_ ," Akira finished in his mind. It had taken every ounce of strength he had not to run to Sojiro's house to see her the day he'd arrived. He doubted she'd remember him, or how much they had once meant to one another. What if he couldn't save her this time though? Akira didn't even want to entertain that thought, he would save her and even if she didn't remember him he'd happily do everything all over again to hold her in his arms again.

There was one final thought that held a dark cloud in his mind though, one above all else. Why couldn't he remember anything beyond the death of Haru's father at the hands of the black masked Persona user? Everything else was crystal clear, as if it had just happened just a short time ago, but beyond that it was just a blur. He remembered bits and pieces, like they had planned a heist on a palace which had gone awry. There might have been someone else with them at the time, but he couldn't remember who it was. And after that, there was absolutely nothing.

To Akira, that meant one of two things. Either the events hadn't happened before he was sent back, or whatever force sent him back was deliberately blocking them. Whatever it was, he needed to find out why those memories were lost and why he was sent back in the first place and hopefully before something else went awry.

* * *

 _Somewhere else in space and time_

As Akira was thinking, somewhere else two beings were locked in argument.

" **You have attempted to rig the game in your favor. That is not a part of our agreement** "

" _I have done no such thing, it was you after all who decided to throw up a potential roadblock_."

" **Then how do you explain what occurred? The Aeon Link was never meant to be awoken, this will spell disaster**."

" _For you perhaps. I've warned you about the potential problems with messing with time. You wanted to play a game where we tested young Kurusu's heart under different circumstances, to place him in a darker scenario to see if he would give in to his darker impulses and prove you were right about humanity_."

" **I removed one of his links from the scenario and another popped up in its place. That is no mere coincidence, there must be an outside influence besides me, and you're the most obvious suspect**."

" _I've merely given advice when it's needed, as I've done in the past with the other wildcards Toudou, Suou, Amano, Arisato, Aigis, and Narukami. And even if I was trying to manipulate events, it would only be to pay you back for trying to supplant my servant and steering events towards your own goals. Even if it wound up costing you in the end._ "

" **Grr, this isn't over, count on it.** "

" _I don't doubt it. I look forward to the outcomes of future events, and how your ripple will affect them_."

The first of the two beings vanished, leaving the other to contemplate his thoughts while staring through his observation window.

" _You will have many trials ahead young Kurusu, let's hope that you can meet them head on like your forbearers. And I hope that your smile will be true_ "

* * *

Author's note

And that's one big long one-shot fully completed, giving me motivation to get back into writing after almost 3 years away. Of course I fully expect no one will actually read this and it'll be buried under a tidal wave of fics. But if you managed to stomach my B-material and even found yourself enjoying it or if you have ideas of how I could improve, leave a review because it motivates me

Now for some behind-the-scenes of some of the decisions I made.

When I had the original idea for the full story, I knew going into it that I wanted to use the idea of replacing party members with other potential ones.

When it came to deciding who to cut, that was a bit more difficult.

So I decided to go for broke and since Ann is featured prominently in all the trailers and marketing material for the game, I decided to pull a * **SPOILERS***

Wait what, it's not like people haven't played * **SPOILERS** *

Seriously?! Okay, I decided to pull a Metal Gear Solid 2 (There we go), and replace her. Shiho of course fit the role perfectly, as I had always wondered about what would have happened had the abuse escalated further than anticipated in the opposite direction. I wish that Shiho could have gotten a bit more development, because from what little I saw she had at least some potential as a character.

A tomboyish and sporty character (if how Shiho and Ann met is any indication, with Shiho insulting Ann's paintings), that was psychologically broken and turned into a shy and quiet shell of her former self who was raped by Kamoshida and pushed by her shadow self into committing suicide.

As for why I decided to make her the Aeon link, that was because in my original plans for the full story I hadn't determined if Ann would play a role or not and thus decided to cover my bases and give her the "Canonization" arcana (which is why I still suspect that Persona 5 is going to get either an FES or Golden treatment since it didn't show up in the original game) as well as prepare an alternate ending(see below) where she gets the Lovers Arcana and Ann playing about as much a role as Shiho did in the original game. It also would've added the interesting element of Akira having to learn to let go of his previous friendship with Ann before he could let Shiho into his heart.

Her persona is based off of an Italian silent film from 1915 of the same name, which has one of the coolest thief stories ever made (even if the film is sort of outdated). I know it doesn't really fit her personality like how a lot of the other personas fit their users, but I couldn't think of a better option. It was a bit of neat practice for my Persona 6 story though, so all's well that ends well I guess.

As for the story itself, it would have been a darker take on Persona 5 with Akira trying to use his knowledge of the future to disastrous results, along with having to deal with the manipulations of the outside forces in play (who I strongly suspect people who have played Persona 5 and 1 or 2 will pick out instantly). There would have been more new party members besides Shiho (no OCs though, just expanding on certain concepts the developers talked about adding to the game as well as a few ideas of my own), as well as a twist on the story which no one would see coming which was mainly borne of my frustration with the twist in the actual game (I love Persona 5, but since I played Persona 4 it was rather easy to pick out what the main twist was going to be, though the second reveal came as a surprise).

Will I wind up making the full story? Possibly, though this would basically serve as the first chapter, though there'd need to be a few more rewrites as well as a written prologue to set up events.

As for who should be replaced and who should they replaced with or who should be added, I have a few candidates in mind which I will list below the alternate ending for those who want to see.

Also Futaba is best girl! **I WILL HEAR NO ARGUMENTS TO THE CONTRARY**!

* * *

Alternate Ending

 _I am_ _ **thou**_ _, thou art I…_

 _Thou hast acquired a_ _ **new**_ _vow,_

 _It shall_ _ **become**_ _the wings of rebellion_

 _that_ _ **breaketh**_ _thy chains of captivity_

 _With the birth of the Lovers Persona,_

 _I have obtained the winds of_ _ **blessing**_ _that_

 _shall lead to freedom and_ _ **new**_ _power_

At this, Akira found himself feeling hollower than he had ever felt before. If Shiho now represented the Lover's arcana, it meant that…Ann was lost to him forever. He knew he could still try to be Ann's friend regardless, but he knew now they'd probably never be as close as they had been before.

"Hey man, are you alright," Ryuji asked out of concern, noticing his friend's downtrodden mood.

"No," Akira replied simply, "And I don't think I will be for a while."

"You've been acting strange for a while," Ryuji said, "If we're going to be partners in this, you need to trust us."

 _It's not like I don't want to say what's on my mind, I just know you'll never believe it_ , Akira thought before replying, "I know you mean well Ryuji, but this is something I have to deal with on my own terms and no one else's. I promise I'll explain it all someday, but we have more pressing issues to think about."

"Whatever you say man," said Ryuji unconvinced, "Just know that if you ever need to talk to someone, I'll be there for you. You saved my life a few times already, and that means something."

"Thanks Ryuji," said Akira, letting a smile come to his face, "You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Well, what are friends for," said Ryuji, "Hey cat, do you think you could stop drooling and join in on the conversation?!"

"What a kind girl, such consideration for others. And the innocence to cast herself into the jaws of death to achieve her goal and save her friends. And she's really cute to top it all off. What a girl, she's stolen my heart…," Morgana said, finally focused.

"Yeah yeah, get the tongue off the floor Catanova," said Ryuji, rolling his eyes, earning a snicker from Akira and a harrumph from Morgana.

* * *

POSSIBLE CANDIDATE LIST:

\- Hifumi Togo (was planned to be a full party member or at least play a larger role in the original game but the role was cut early in development due to the game being too long)

\- Chihaya Mifune (I actually have a big possible plan for her, but that can easily be changed to someone else if I feel like it)

\- Yuuki Mishima (I know this may seem like a joke, but if this was Persona 4 he could have just as easily been a party member just like I feel Kou could have been)

\- Toransuke Yoshida (Honestly this is mainly because I want to see an older Persona user besides Adachi and Namatame)


End file.
